An Examination of Music Teacher Job Interview Questions

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine which interview questions principals consider most important when interviewing prospective music teachers. Additionally, data were examined to determine any differences between school grade level, school setting, or years of experience as a principal in preferences for specific interview questions. Four-hundred five ( N = 405) principals from the state of North Carolina completed an online questionnaire asking each participant to rate 27 interview questions on how important they consider each question to be. Additionally, a free response section was created to allow respondents to list any additional interview questions they viewed as very important that were not listed. Results indicated “How will you connect with your students,” “Tell me what I’ll see happening in your classroom,” and “How would you make sure students are successful in music” were the top three rated interview questions, respectively. No significant differences were found for ratings of interview questions between school grade level, school setting, or years of experience as a principal.